


Just Desserts

by emma98



Category: Fantastic Four (Movies 2005-2007), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Darcy and Johnny discover that proposals lead to free dessert, Darcy and Johnny went to high school together, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship to Lovers, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 14:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9185077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emma98/pseuds/emma98
Summary: Darcy Lewis is 18 when Johnny Storm drops back into her life.  Her last run in was seeing him streak across the stage at his graduation.He's just the right kind of adventurous to try out a theory of hers.  Namely that people who say yes to a proposal in a restaurant get free dessert.Darcy got a little bit more than she bargained for though.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The timeline in this is straight up crazy. Let's just say the first Fantastic Four movie happened in like, 2008. Then the Incredible Hulk in 2010. Then Thor. And if you can suspend disbelief for that (and you know, superheroes in general), then this might actually work. 
> 
> Anyway, I've never written Johnny Storm before. I really did love the Fantastic Four movies as a kid though. So it was kind of nice to write this and imagine Johnny growing up and maturing and you know, falling totally in lurve with our intrepid intern.
> 
> The inspiration behind this story comes from a tumblr post http://katherinedennings.tumblr.com/post/154770880898/thecakelessachiever-deliverusfromsburb and was written for an awesome fellow tumblr user who I think is super awesome.
> 
> Imagine your OTP proposing repeatedly at different restaurants to get free food.  
> #AND WHEN THE REAL PROPOSAL COMES AND THEY GET FREE ICE CREAM OR SOMETHING#PERSON A IS LIKE ‘omg that was a good one the whole speech was a nice touch where did you get this ring it looks so realistic omg’#and person B is just like ‘r u fucking kidding me’

 

**Just Desserts**

* * *

 

 

Darcy Lewis was a very frugal sort of person.  She had spent a lifetime of scrimping and saving, a result of landing in her Grandmother's house at the age of five.  She learned a lot at Nonna Burkowitz's knee.  She knew where to find extra coupon inserts after the papers had been thrown out.  She knew that twenty dollars in a good thrift shop could give her a new wardrobe.  She knew how to battle an after Christmas crowd in order to get the absolute best deals on wrapping paper and decorations and little toys that would last the year until Christmas came rolling back again.

 

And she knew that certain restaurants would give a person free dessert should the occasion require it.

 

Birthdays worked when she was younger.  She and Nonna would go out for Kids Eat free night, where Darcy would stuff herself to the point of bursting.  And then Nonna would tell the waitress that it was her little one's birthday, and sure enough, free dessert would show up on their table with the wait staff cheering and congratulating the little birthday girl.  Nonna always made sure to tip very, very well, her frugality not extending to the proper courtesies due to service staff.

 

But then at the age of thirteen, the Puberty Fairy waved a wand and suddenly Darcy was no longer a cute little kid with a gap between her two front teeth.  She was now an obnoxiously short teenager with the spirit of Betty Boop’s curves trying to take up residence in her rapidly changing body.  Free desserts weren't going to come for birthdays anymore.

 

But when she was an eighteen year old freshman in college, she was at a deserted diner for the free wifi,  just outside of campus after a big sporting event and she decided she wanted to try a new tactic out.  She grabbed the nearest jock within reach and pulled his shoulders down to whisper in his ear.

 

"How do you feel about free dessert?" she whispered, her hands resting on broad, muscular shoulders.

 

"That's the best pickup line ever, Babe, seriously," the jock answered, immediately going a little slack jawed.  

 

Darcy reached into her giant, battered purse and pulled out a quarter.  She handed it to the (seriously handsome and ridiculously self-assured) jock, doing her best not to blush as he stared down at her with steely blue eyes and a little smirk playing on full and pouting lips.  She put the quarter into his palm and then gestured to the little gumball machines at the front of the diner.  

 

"Sweets for the sweet, Lewis?" the jock questioned.

 

Darcy blinked up at him curiously, trying to place the man.  He was tall, but at five foot three inches, everyone felt tall to Darcy.  Golden tanned skin, the aforementioned steely blue eyes and pouting, smirking lips, a jawline that was---a very fine jaw line to have indeed, and soft-looking brown hair cut close to his scalp. He was very good looking, but the expression on his face said that he clearly  _ knew _ he was good looking.  

 

"Do I know you?" Darcy whispered.

 

The smirk fell from the jock's face and he shook his head in disbelief. 

 

"Lewis, we went to the same high school together for two years," he answered back.

  
  


Darcy thought some more before realization dawned on her face.  "Jonathan Storm.  You graduated two years ahead of me.  You filled the school pool with gelatin powder.  And you streaked at your graduation."

 

"Remember that do you?" the smirk was back.

 

"People tend to remember incredibly traumatic and damaging events," Darcy shot right back.

 

Johnny stepped back a little at the sass packed into such a small amount of words.  And the sass packed into such a small amount of woman.  His eyes flicked down her body and then back up to catch her rolling her eyes in exasperation at the approving look on his face.

 

"You haven't changed at all," Darcy sighed.

 

"See, I am memorable," Johnny nodded.  "You too.  Scholarship kid, right?  You go to school at Culver?"

 

"Studying for midterms as we speak, what are you doing here?" Darcy wondered.

 

"Water polo match," Johnny answered.  "I go to Danielson College, we're kind of your rivals.  And we spanked your team today."

 

"So impressive," Darcy assured him, her tone anything but impressed.  "Do you want to do this free dessert thing with me or not?"

 

"Sounds fun, babe," Johnny nodded, catching on quickly to her intent as she wiggled her left ring finger at him.  He rushed over to the gumball machine before Darcy could launch into a lecture about calling her babe.  He bent over coquettishly and stared back at Darcy, winking at her when he caught her objectively looking at him.  

 

Darcy sat back in the booth and finished off the last of her french fries, dipping them in the ranch dressing liberally before cramming them into her mouth.  She even began to look back to her school work as she waited, wondering what the odds were that Johnny Storm had run off with her ring with the nearest available waitress.  They were pretty high.

 

Darcy hated to think she'd completely wasted a quarter.  Nonna would be so disappointed in her.

 

A hush went over the previously busy restaurant and Darcy looked to her left, her eyes going wide at the sight of Johnny Storm kneeling on the admittedly sticky diner floor.  To his credit, he was playing the part, looking smitten and loving as he stared up at her.

 

"Babe, we've known each other a while now, five years, and I know your pa don't approve of me, and your other pa says I'm too pretty to settle down, but I can't wait one more day without knowing that you're gonna be mine for the rest of all time.  Lewis---BABE," Johnny was going all in at this point, cheeks flushed, eyes brimming with tears.  "I've loved you since that first day I saw you coming into school five years ago and you broke Burt Winters’ nose because he grabbed your ass..."

 

Darcy's eyes went a little wide at that.  

 

She HAD broken Burt Winters’ nose because he had grabbed her ass.  She had then argued with Vice Principal Donaldson for three straight hours to avoid any unjust punishment.  Then she had argued with Burt Winters' dad for another two hours until she had him signing up Burt for counseling sessions and volunteer time at the local women's abuse shelter.  Darcy Lewis did NOT mess around, even at the tender age of fourteen.

 

She was impressed that Johnny had remembered that.  

 

"Babe, you're the light of my life.  The sugar in my coffee.  The pro in my prophylactics.  Please, promise to spend the rest of my life with me, making me smile," Johnny asked earnestly, producing the cheap little ring, silver band with a glittery bit of plastic masquerading as a princess cut diamond,  in an exaggerated hand gesture.

 

Darcy blinked at him in astonishment.  Sure, she had wanted to try the scam out for free dessert (the diner had excellent banana cream pie), but she had not expected such dedication from a former schoolmate that she hadn't seen in two years.  Something inside of her decided immediately, that outward appearance and previous public nudity aside, Johnny Storm might just be one of her own kind.  

 

The ridiculously playful and trouble making kind of shit stirrer.

 

"Oh sweetcheeks, OF COURSE," she gasped out, and then threw herself from the booth, tackling Johnny to the ground and pressing her lips repeatedly all over his face as he laughed.  He managed to sit up with Darcy in his lap and put two large hands on either side of her face before giving her a devious little wink and then kissing her lips fiercely.  

 

Darcy let out a surprised little muffled noise, but that only seemed to spur Johnny on, turning her head slightly and licking along the seam of her lips.  The hoots and hollers and cheers of everyone else in the diner didn't stop Darcy from submitting to the thorough and passionate kiss, but when someone else's hand landed on her shoulder, she pulled away.

 

"Congratulations, kids," the elderly waitress smiled.  "But get the hell off of my floor before you break public sanitation laws.  If you can keep your hands above the table, I'll go grab you a slice of pie on the house."

 

Johnny nodded and stood, his hands automatically going to Darcy's bottom and holding him to her as he stood up with just the smallest grunt of exertion.  

 

"Don't break my nose, Lewis," Johnny whispered in her ear as he sat them together in the booth.  He gave her a lecherous smile and shrugged, "I had to sell it."

 

"Oh, yeah, of course," Darcy nodded.  She grinned when the waitress brought their generous helping of pie with two forks, and did her best not to roll her eyes when Johnny insisted on feeding her over three quarters of it.  

 

"This was a lot of fun," Johnny admitted.  "Not that I need free dessert, you know, cause I'm not a scholarship kid, but still...a lot of fun.  I got a little bit of a thrill there, Babe.  You're a helluva kisser."

 

Darcy accepted one last bite of delicious pie and nodded at him, "How far away is Danielson College again?  Because I can see us trying this again sometime."

 

* * *

 

 

In the course of the next year and a half of Johnny Storm's collegiate career, the pair of them exhausted every restaurant in a one hundred and fifty mile radius, getting engaged over sixty-five times.   And Darcy got her quarters worth out of that cheap gumball machine ring, because Johnny used the same ring every time.  Darcy’s personal favorite was that very summer in New York where they received a giant goblet of gold dusted ice cream that was advertised as the most expensive dessert on Earth.  Johnny’s personal favorite was when he’d gotten down on one knee in the ball pit at the local Chuck E. Cheese and in congratulations, they’d received a cup full of tokens that had lasted them through five different visits (he and Darcy really loved skeeball).

 

Once, Darcy turned him down, just for the hell of it, and found that after she walked out of the restaurant, Johnny was handed bags and bags of food by the kitchen staff as a sort of consolation prize.  Darcy had not had to visit the school cafeteria for a whole week after that.

 

Diametrically opposed upbringing aside, Darcy and Johnny got on like a house on fire.  He was a lot smarter than the pretty face and silly playboy behavior suggested.  They emailed constantly, and Darcy had been surprised to have the very first Stark phone delivered to her dorm room three weeks before it was released to the general public with Johnny's number being already pre-programmed in.  

 

It had taken ten free dessert proposals before Darcy had managed to turn off that irritably romantic portion of her brain that couldn't help but be charmed with each of Johnny's proposals.  They were great friends.  Best friends even.  But after the tenth dessert, she got an eyeful of the latest text message on Johnny's phone sitting on the table.  It was a picture message.  Someone tall, willowy and blonde.  And nude as the day she was born.

 

Darcy taught herself afterwards, that Johnny was a great friend, but also a very randy pervert and also a notorious lothario.  And from that moment on, she swore he would just be a friend.  And she was certainly his only female friend that he hadn’t fooled around with and then subsequently left behind.  

 

And then came his early graduation dinner and a celebration for being accepted into a special advanced program with NASA at one of the fanciest restaurants in New York, and Darcy had never felt more out of place.  She looked down at the little gift bag she had gotten half price at the dollar store, knowing that the silly twenty dollar gift card to Applebee's and cheap silver plated necklace with the Chinese symbol for fire on it would be ridiculed by Johnny's more...well off ‘friends’.  

 

"Hey."

 

Darcy turned and smiled at Johnny's sister, Sue had always been so nice to her, thinking that Johnny was truly better off having Darcy's friendship in his life.  She never acted like Johnny's so-called friends, who were nice to her face, and immediately gave her glares whenever she turned her back on them.

 

"I'm going to miss him when he's in outer space," Darcy sighed.  "And really, what's my life right now?  Outer space?  A person I know is going to outer space?  Crazy."

 

"I've been to outer space," Sue reminded her with a sly, soft smile.

 

" _ CRAZY _ ," Darcy nodded in agreement with herself.

 

"How's school?" Sue wondered.  "You got your science credits hammered out?"

 

"No, I hate science.  No offense to you," Darcy laughed.  "I'll just wait until senior year and grab an internship.  That should work."

 

"Sure, but you know, if you wait until after our next mission, I could come up with an internship in Victor's---"

 

"Oh, no, no, no," Darcy shook her head adamantly.    "No offense.  To you.  But...  No thanks?"

 

She didn't know how to explain to her best friend's sister that she thought her current boyfriend was a creeper and weird and awful.  Seriously, he was like just a few bad decisions away from being a bad supervillain from an early 2000's movie that wasn't meant to be funny, but totally was funny.

 

"I just want to thank you," Sue sighed.  

 

"For what?" Darcy asked, genuinely confused.

 

"Johnny was just---off the rails since he started college, and then he meets you again, and all of a sudden he had a focus," Sue admitted.  "You ground him.  You're WONDERFUL for him."

 

"Sue, Johnny and I, we're just friends," Darcy said softly.  It was something she had had to tell Johnny's overly enthused sister before, quite a few times.  Darcy understood wanting to set her brother up, but really, after the first time Darcy had claimed the _ just friends  _ card, Sue should have taken it to heart.

 

"Sure," Sue gave a knowing smile Johnny's way as he opened gifts that were just  bottle after bottle of really expensive liquor from his old buddies from the water polo team.  She knew her brother better than anyone, even better than Darcy did.  And she truly felt she had insight that Darcy just didn't.  

 

They were too young, anyway.  Darcy wasn't even twenty-years old yet and would likely have three more years of college if she wanted to double major in Political Science and history, and Johnny was barely twenty-two.  Sue would content herself to keeping Darcy close to Johnny until maturity and time would make them ready.  Sue was anything if not patient.

 

"Lewis, babe!  What are you doing sitting there with grumpy pants, c'mere!" Johnny came by quickly and snatched the girl away from his awful scheming sister, who wouldn't rest until he and Lewis were old and actually married to one another.  He spun Darcy onto the dance floor, her body twirling out and then spinning back into his arms.  He did love the feel of her.  

 

He did love her.

 

As a friend, of course.  Mostly.  Johnny smiled down at her in that leisurely, effortless way of his, those roaming eyes flicking up and down her body quickly.

 

"Perv," Darcy accused.

 

"Can't help you're such a hottie," Johnny chuckled.  Because if there was ever a word to describe anyone that was more appropriate, Johnny certainly hadn't heard of it yet.  Darcy Lewis, scholarship kid, coupon clipper, and his perpetual fiancee was a stunner.  He knew she had gotten the red velvet dress that clung to every soft curve of hers when she was at the thrift store in Brooklyn.  She'd sent him a text message in a changing room for approval.  

 

He had approved.  Boy, had he approved.  

 

"Hey, when you're the world's youngest man in space, getting interviews with big, important magazines and tv shows, make sure that you remember the little people, okay?" Darcy smiled.  

 

"Never gonna forget you, Lewis," Johnny promised, his breath stinking a little of very expensive whiskey.  "How could I forget the girl I'm gonna marry someday?"

 

Darcy said nothing, just let him pull her in a little closer as they swayed across the dance floor.  

 

"Dude, we are not going to get free dessert anymore when you're super famous," Darcy said suddenly, as if in remembrance.  "People are gonna be taking pictures of you the first time you try. And poof, no more free dessert.”

 

“Lewis, babe, when I’m famous, we’ll get our whole meal comped,” Johnny promised.  “Not like I can’t afford to take you out anyway.  Sue said the lawyers signed off on my trust fund deposit.  I’m pretty much set if you ever want that extra slice of pie.”

 

“Such a provider,” Darcy quipped.  She clung to him a little tighter, not really meaning to, and not thinking he would notice.  She was worried.  Johnny was on the fast track for actual space launches, and it worried her.  He had always had a weakness for chasing danger, and this seemed like the most dangerous thing that was available to him at the moment.

 

“What’s wrong, Babe?” Johnny whispered against the top of her head.  “You’re tense.  School got you down?”

 

“Yeah, school,” Darcy nodded taking that excuse and running with it.   “I’m not looking forward to freshman bio or chemistry or whatever I need to do for that science credit.”

 

“We can get you an internship somewhere,” Johnny promised.  “Maybe you can come down to Florida and you and I can work on getting through a whole new state’s worth of restaurants and marriage proposals.”

 

“Charmer,” Darcy sighed, melting into him a little and putting her head on his shoulder.  She could feel his strong arms tightening around her and she couldn’t help how nice it made her feel.

 

The slow music faded away, and another song didn’t replace it, instead, the spotlight turned on the dance floor, zooming around until it found where Darcy and Johnny were slowly swaying together.  It stayed on them and Johnny gave her a playful little wink before dropping to one knee, his hands going to hers and holding them gently.

 

“Lewis, Babe,” Johnny sighed happily, dropping one of her hands and going for his jacket pocket.  He pulled out a ring box and popped it open, revealing a nearly completely rusted over gumball machine ring.   “Seriously, just marry me already.”

 

Sue let out a happy and excited gasp from the sidelines.

 

“You idiot,” Darcy rolled her eyes, taking her hands out of his and pushing him over so he landed flat on his butt.  “This is your party, the desserts are already free!”

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy took a one year leave of absence from school when her Nonna Burkowitz fell ill for the last time.  And when that awful day came when the doctors agreed to allow Nonna off of life support, Darcy didn’t know how she was going to get through the next few days.  

 

She was sitting by her Nonna’s bedside, the only living relative left, waiting for the long lived lady to take her last peaceful breath when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.  She blinked up at Johnny, still in his training uniform and she broke down completely in tears.  She didn’t know how he managed it, but in no time,he was sitting in her seat, with her cuddled in his arms.

 

“Thank you for being here,” Darcy whispered against his shoulder.  

 

“Babe, I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Johnny promised.  “You’re my best friend.”

 

Later that night, Johnny came back into the room with three plates full of various kinds of dessert and placed them on the rolling table next to Nonna’s bed.  

 

“Didn’t even have to propose,” Johnny smiled.  “The orderlies just gave them to me.”

 

“I kind of love you, Johnny,” Darcy smiled for the first time all day.

 

Johnny covered his astonished smile with a spoonful of truly hideous cheesecake and looked down at his feet.  

 

“I love you too, Babe.”

 

* * *

 

 

Six months later, it was Darcy’s turn to show up on Johnny’s doorstep, right after the last big fight with Doom.  

 

“Babe, what are you doing here?  I texted you, everything was fine!” Johnny promised.  

 

“I was worried,” Darcy shrugged helplessly.  “You started to go on fire a few days ago and now that creepy bastard was a metal creepy bastard and everything is seriously  _ weird _ .”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Johnny nodded, turning anxiously towards his penthouse before quickly turning to face Darcy.  He reached out a very warm hand and placed it on the side of her face.  “I promise, I’m okay.  You’re supposed to be down in Nassau finishing up the internship.”

 

“Screw the internship, Johnny, you just had the final showdown with a deranged supervillain,” Darcy waved him off.  “Where else would I be?”

 

“Finishing up the last few credits for your degrees, Lewis!” Johnny laughed in disbelief.  “You’re never going to graduate.”

 

“I’ll get it one day,” Darcy waved him off.  She shrugged and said, “You gonna invite me in?  I---I picked up snack cakes from the convenience store down the street.  I figured you can use your new fists of fiery glory to toast them up.”

 

“I---”

 

“Johnny!  Come back.  We’re cold!” 

 

At least two different women began giggling and Johnny could only shrug helplessly down at Darcy, his eyes going downcast and his mouth turning into a frown.

 

“I can ask them to leave,” Johnny promised.  “I didn’t know you were coming.”

 

“Right,” Darcy nodded.  “No, don’t ask them to leave.  Just---here.”

 

She dropped the bag full of snack cakes at his feet and turned away.

 

“Lewis, please,” Johnny called out as she began walking as fast as she could down the hall.  “Please come back.”

 

* * *

 

Eighteen months later, Johnny had sent Darcy approximately five hundred unanswered emails and over a thousand unanswered texts.  He’d also signed her up for ten different dessert of the month clubs, but those were returned to him by the various services.  

 

And then Thor happened.  

 

Johnny had been in his private lab in the Baxter building tinkering away on absolutely nothing and everything at the same time when a text message came through with the special ring tone that sounded like the sound effect in Mario Brothers when Mario ate a mushroom echoed.  His Darcy ring tone that he hadn’t heard in eighteen months. 

 

He nearly fell off of his stool reaching for the phone.  

 

_ I think I’m in trouble _ .   _ Just in case the worst happens.  I love you, Johnny.  You’re my best friend. _

 

Johnny ran for the nearest window and popped it open, flaming on and began soaring through the night sky.  He had traded a lot of favors with Maria Hill in the past eighteen months, namely having to follow Tony Stark around to make sure the guy didn’t accidentally drink an entire liquor store.  But it had allowed him to keep tabs on Darcy.  He’d known that her last attempt at a normal science credit had been lost thanks to Dr. Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk and destroying large portions Culver University.  He’d known that she was trying for another internship with an astrophysicist for a semester in New Mexico.  

 

So he began flying southwest, as quick as he possibly could, and less than an hour later, he saw the amazing lights in the sky marking Thor’s exit and followed them.

 

“Lewis!” he screamed as he touched down on the already scorched Earth.  He had her wrapped up in a smoky, warm embrace in no time.  His hands moved up and down her back in reassuring swipes, before going up into her hair and then back down again, just to make sure she was solid beneath his fingertips.  “You okay, Babe?”

 

“You know, just your standard sort of alien invasion.  Big flaming metal robot of death and destruction.  Old hat for you, I’m sure,” Darcy mumbled into the crook of his neck, hot relieved tears falling down her cheeks and landing on his skin.  

 

“Jesus,” Johnny breathed out.  

 

“Uhm….” Jane blinked at Darcy then shared a look of disbelief with Erik.  “So that guy you’re in love with?  Johnny.  You meant Johnny  _ freaking _ Storm?”

 

“JANIE! SHUT IT!” Darcy yelped as she tried to get out of Johnny’s strong hold.

 

“No, no, no,” Johnny laughed.  “I’m not letting you go now, Babe.  You’re staying with me, Lewis.”

 

“S’embarrassing,” Darcy mumbled.

  
“No, not at all,” Johnny disputed.  “I love you too, Babe.  Whole thing.  In love with you.  This has been the worst year and a half of my life. I missed you so much, Lewis.”

 

“Yeah,” Darcy breathed out slowly.  

 

Johnny watched as SHIELD agents began to descend on the site and he nodded. He placed her on her feet, but grabbed her hand and began leading her away.  He trusted Maria Hill, but all the rest of those SHIELD fuckers were shady at best.   “Okay, Babe.  You need ice cream.  Let’s go.”

 

“I doubt you’re hiding the ring anywhere on this suit,” Darcy gave him a once over.  “So free dessert is out of the question.”

 

“Lewis, I can’t even hide a wallet in this suit,” Johnny waggled his eyebrows at her, eliciting a well earned giggle.  “No matter what we’re getting, I’m eating for free.”

 

* * *

 

 

Johnny was waiting for her at the airport three weeks later when she brought Jane to New York for their brand new labs in Stark Tower.  Part of the deal was a free Stark Tower apartment too, but Johnny seriously hoped she spent more time in his penthouse at Baxter Building instead.  It was way safer at Baxter Building, funnily enough.  

 

Kissing Darcy for the first time, for real, had happened on top of an old RV in Puento Antigo.  It had been soft and gentle and full of promise.  And then, his feisty, beautiful, amazing girl had tackled him to the top of the RV and kissed the living daylights out of him.  

 

The first time they’d given in and made love had been, regrettably, under a bench in Tony’s lab.  He’d had to sign over his future first born to Romanoff to get that wiped off of JARVIS’ mainframe.  But it had been worth it, because being with Darcy, being in love with her and  _ being _ with her was worth anything, at any location he could get.

 

All it really took for Johnny to make up his mind was another alien invasion.  And one confusing meet cute between Darcy and Steve Rogers, who had to be his great-grand cousin or  _ something _ , had Johnny convinced of what he needed to do.  Because while Steve had been flustered and stammering when Darcy had accidentally tackled him to the ground and covered his face with kisses, Johnny had no doubt that the man wouldn’t have found an interest eventually.

 

His sister had recommended the restaurant.  And Ben had helped him get the ring.  

 

And right before the dessert course, Johnny had gotten down on one knee and held up the ring box with an earnestly nervous look on his face.

 

“Lewis... _ babe _ , I love you more than anything.  More than endorsement deals.  More than my bike.  More than free dessert.  I love you, and I’ve loved you a really long time now. Been kind of smitten with you ever since you broke Burt Winters’ nose.  And now, over a decade later, I finally have you looking at me the way I had always dreamed you’d look at me.”

 

He paused and nodded as Darcy looked at him with equal parts amusement and starry eyed love.  

 

“Yeah, that look right there,” he huffed out a small laugh.  “I never thought you’d look at me like that.  I’d dream about it.  Wished for it, and now that you’re looking at me like that, I couldn’t ask for more.  I love you, Lewis.  And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and proving to you that I’m worth it.  So please…. _ please _ babe, will you marry me?”

 

“Yes!  Of course,” Darcy nodded, her blue green eyes glittering with tears.  

 

The wait staff and other diners began clapping exuberantly and Johnny got up off his knees and kissed Darcy thoroughly.  When he pulled away, there was a very large ice cream sundae on their table, decorated in chocolate and sugar encrusted edible flower petals.  He managed to slip the ring on Darcy’s finger before she dug in, feeding him bits of the decadent sundae steadily.

 

He was floating on air as they walked out the back door,away from the paparazzi that had been waiting at the front of the restaurant for them.  Darcy was roaring with laughter as soon as they walked away and he looked down at her curiously.

 

“Dude, that was the BEST one yet, I mean, seriously, you really outdid yourself this time!” Darcy giggled.  She looked down at the ring and furrowed her brow, “And did you get the old ring all cleaned up?  I mean, I can’t even see any rust spots, and the plastic diamond is extra sparkly.”

 

“ _ Lewis _ ,” Johnny furrowed his brow.

 

“Whatever, now the ring will last a little longer, I mean, Jane says we’ll be going to London sometime next year for some special star smashing thing, and I figure you can fly over a lot, and we can get all the free desserts in London, and Ireland, and just, all of Great Britain, really,” Darcy babbled happily as they walked towards Johnny’s surprisingly low key SUV.  

 

Johnny blinked and stood in the alleyway, unable to move his feet.

  
She’d thought he was pretend proposing to her.  

 

_ Again _ .

 

“Are you fucking kidding me, babe?” he called out anxiously as Darcy continued to jabber on.

 

“What?” Darcy turned to stare at him curiously.  It dawned on her very suddenly that the blend of hurt and anxiety on her face meant that he had been  _ serious _ in his proposal this time.

 

“Give it back,” Johnny said petulantly, holding out his hand for the ring.  “I’ll ask better next time so you know I’m not joking.”

 

“No, you can’t have it back!” Darcy disputed hotly as he walked towards her, his face looking more serious than it ever had before.  “I mean, wait, wait?  Next time?”

 

“I’m going to keep on fucking proposing to you until you take me seriously,” Johnny promised reaching out for her ring.

 

“No, you can’t have it back!” Darcy yelled.  “I was joking, I knew you were serious, it’s cool.  I said yes, I’m not taking that back!” 

 

“Lewis... _ babe _ ,” he sighed.  “I’ll ask better next time.”

 

“It was  _ perfect _ ,” Darcy promised him.  

 

“You thought it was a scam for free dessert !” Johnny laughed in disbelief.

 

“Because we’ve done that eighty-eight times in the last six years!” Darcy reminded him.  She reached out and put her hands on his cheeks, bringing him down for a sweet, little kiss.  “You can’t have the ring back, and you can’t propose anymore.  This is it.  I’m going to marry you.”

 

“Yeah?” Johnny smiled, looking almost shy and sweet.  Until he arched a wicked eyebrow and shrugged, “But how will you get your dessert?  You’re a thankless intern with no degree, yet.”

 

“Charming,” Darcy rolled her eyes.  “My fiance is loaded.  He can pick up the tab for dessert from here on out.”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah babe, he totally can.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you enjoyed reading this! Someday I will have to come back to the Johnny Storm of it all, because it really was quite a lot of fun to write him.


End file.
